A leak of Harley-Davidson's first-quarter earnings prompted a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, explaining the incident.

In the filing Monday, Harley said the Motorcycle Industry Council on April 20 released to its members information about companies including Harley-Davidson, "subject to terms of applicable restricted-use agreements."

Harley learned one of the members of the Motorcycle Industry Council, "in apparent violation of those terms," disclosed some of the information, the company said.

The company will not confirm the contents of the research report, but it is "confirming that U.S. retail sales of new Harley-Davidson motorcycles by independent dealers were up 25.5 percent for the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of 2011."

Harley isn't scheduled to release the first quarter 2012 financial results until Wednesday, April 25.

Harley spokeswoman Marypat Blankenheim said the company is not commenting on the leaked information.

- Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436, ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com, or follow her on Twitter at @YDYorkCounty.